Movies…with a little bit of obscure culture and sports mixed in
Murder Mystery 2 (2023) comes across as if it’s a college student giving an oral presentation after taking enough drugs to cram all prep into one night. If we were to compare everyone involved with the making of Murder Mystery 2 to a hungover senior nearing graduation, the entire crew is quoting the classic “Cs get degrees” mantra.
“Full-time detectives Nick and Audrey are struggling to get their private eye agency off the ground. They find themselves at the center of international abduction when their friend Maharaja is kidnapped at his own lavish wedding.”
Director: Jeremy Garelick
Writer: James Vanderbilt
Staring: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Mark Strong, Mélanie Laurent
Release Date: March 1, 2023
IMDB
Murder Mystery 2 (2023) comes across as if it’s a college student giving an oral presentation after taking enough drugs to cram all prep into one night. If we were to compare everyone involved with the making of Murder Mystery 2 to a hungover senior nearing graduation, the entire crew is quoting the classic “Cs get degrees” mantra.
And I am not here to shame.
Murder Mystery 2 brings back the bickering Brooklyn married couple Nick and Audrey, played by Adam Sandler and Jennifer Anniston. The opening of the film (re)introduces the pair with the context of the effects of Murder Mystery (2019). The couple are trying to make it as a pair of private investigators, but the glamorous life of snooping and clue solving is not living up to their expectations.
Nick and Audrey get a well-timed break from this stress when their friend The Maharajah (Adeel Akhtar) invites them to his extravagant marriage celebration. The private helicopters, delicious cheese and free wardrobe paint the experience in happy colors, but the soft hue of happiness quickly became stained with disaster.
The Maharajah has been kidnapped! Gasp! Nick and Audrey are stuck in the middle of another terrible criminal scenario, but what a time for the husband & wife to prove their sleuthing metal.
As it turns out, the main suspects are family or members of the executive board that work closely with The Maharajah. You have an ex-fiancée, a playboy ex-soccer player, a jealous sister, a one-armed security guard and the soon-to-be-but-never-formalized new bride. It is an eccentric bunch, to say the least.
The distrusting group of suspects think that Nick and Audrey are in over their heads, so they hire the predominant independent crime solver, Miller. Played by Mark Strong, Miller is the PI who literally wrote the book on how to do it. Nick and Audrey are asked for personally by the Maharajah’s kidnappers, meaning that they have a permanent lifeline to work with their elevated idol.
With all the important introductions introduced, Murder Mystery 2 makes its way to France and starts untangling the knots of the mystery. Various motives are unveiled and backstabbers are brought into the spotlight. As one would expect, Murder Mystery 2 ends with a classic finger-pointing monologue from the underestimated hero enhanced by some unnecessary action.
Murder Mystery 2 follows the same formula as The Hangover II (2011). You run back the same characters, nearly the same premise, the same comedic bits and the same plot structure. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Adam Sandler can do this type of work in his sleep. He gets to be charismatic and play the grumpy old man who thinks he’s still got it. The character of Nick is really good and ending a scene with a quick one-liner or a quiet mumble toward’s Audrey.
Jennifer Aniston looks like she is having a blast in Murder Mystery 2. You know the last two movies Aniston has done? Murder Mystery, and Murder Mystery 2. She caught a whiff of the Sandler Netflix cash cow and is gladly grazing in the same field. Aniston has the critically acclaimed AppleTV program The Morning Show and these Murder Mystery adventures. Not sure about the cross over for those audiences, but Aniston is staying in the public eye.
A curious bit about Murder Mystery 2 is that it is written by James Vanderbilt, one of the writers for the past two Scream films, both of which are very respectable viewing experiences. The man is a true comeback story because he is also on the credits of Independence Day: Resurgence (2016).
You look down Vanderbilt’s IMDB and none of his movies are particularly dreadful…besides Resurgence. The majority of the projects he has been a part of are crowd pleasers. They are meant to appease the masses and put actors in fun roles where they can thrive in a story environment that fits them. Think Channing Tatum in White House Down (2013), Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) or The Rundown (2003) with The Rock. He was not Dwayne Johnson back then.
Now, there is one major outlier.
Vanderbilt wrote for Zodiac (2007)!? He has a David Fincher project under his bag! How about ‘dem apples?!
Murder Mystery 2 is directed by Jeremy Garelick. I say that only to say that it must be a blast to direct an Adam Sandler movie like this. You get to work with a talented cast, all of whom seem to be having a blast. There is no pressure to movie the next great comedy caper, but just enough pressure to make sure you don’t get lazy. Travel the world, work with fun people and create a project that will be seen by a ton of people. Not too bad Garelick.
Murder Mystery 2 is the third movie starring Aniston and Sandler together (The first was Just Go With It (2011)). I would not be surprised if there was a third Murder Mystery story. And you know what, I would probably pop that movie on when it comes out as well.
Murder Mystery 2 is never going to be the biggest recommendation, but it also shouldn’t be scoffed out. If you are a family with three kids, ranging in ages from early teen to late elementary school, you could put on Murder Mystery 2 and not have too many upset faces. Sure the older kid may scoff because they want to be different and cool (I would have never done this…), but after a while they’ll sit down and let Sander and Aniston work it out on screen.
STANKO RATING: D+
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